Hey, Stavros, I remember you were making a list about this a while back, did you ever complete it? I definitely think we should resurrect it anyway.

Top 6 should be imo:

Criteria: Importance/Influence to the sport, Importance in the match, Aesthetics, Skill/Technique, Absence of luck.

1. Carlos Alberto (BRAZIL vs. Italy, 1970 World Cup Final)
2. Diego Maradona (2nd goal)(ARGENTINA vs. England, 1986 World Cup Quarter Final)
3. Marco Van Basten (THE NETHERLANDS vs. U.S.S.R., 1988 European Championship Final)
4. Ferenc Puskas (1st goal)(HUNGARY vs. England, 1953 International Friendly)
5. Pele (1st goal)(BRAZIL vs. Sweden, 1958 World Cup Final)
6. Zinedine Zidane (REAL MADRID vs. Bayer Leverkusen, 2002 Champions League Final)

i would also like to see a list of great goals purely based on aesthetic criteria... like that gourcuff goal i saw posted recently, that was simply amazing

for example, i know for sheva, this would be at or near the top: una cosa INCREDIBILE!!!!!

Yeah, that's a point George, out of that top 6, the Pele goal is the only one that I really find amazing. Of course it's different watching them back knowing the importance, than watching them live. I'm sure the Alberto and Maradona goals woudl have taken your breath away if watching the game live and not knowing what was about to happen.

A goal purely based on aesthetics would be awesome, that Gourcuff goal would be in my all-time top 5 easily. I think it's probably the most graceful goal I've ever seen.

You don't find Zidane or Van Basten's goals amazing?

yeah... and actually the puskas goal may be my favorite of those 6, assume we're talking about the same one

also, video links would be very much appreciated (-:

They're good, but I find them a bit underwhelming. Maybe if I hadn't watched them knowing how good they were supposed to be, as I said I probably would have found them amazing if I saw them live. Muzzy Izzet once scored a better volley vs. Grimsby.

And yeah, I forgot about the Puskas one, that is pretty amazing, though it took seeing it at a certain angle for me to see it as such. I'll put video links up now.

How do I put hyperlinks up, so the text for the link is the text of the goal rather than just the URL?

Highlight the text, click on URL, and on the first bit, put an = followed by the link

e.g.

[url=yourlinkhere]Zidane[/url]

Cheers.

I think I actually prefer this goal in the England vs. Hungary match to to the dragback, Puskas' assist: the control and then the vision for the pass is stunning: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj2ylSEzSmQ

Giggs v Arsenal, Bergkamp v Argentina seem like other good contenders for top 15/20

Ricky Villa

I think we should make a list of our favourite goals purely from an aesthetic point of view as well. We'll post a load of videos and discuss them too. I remember sirjock posted a huge list on the old forum I'll see if I can dig it out.

I'm down.

Love this one by Zlatan. And yeah, Gourcuff's is just a gem.